Chitosan Films in Food Applications. Tuning Film Properties by Changing Acidic Dissolution Conditions.

Food contamination due to the presence of microorganisms is a serious problem. New food preservation systems are being studied to kill or inhibit spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms that contaminate food and reduce the shelf life of products. Chitosan films with potential application to food preservation have witnessed great developments during the last years.

Electrosprayed whey protein-based nanocapsules for β-carotene encapsulation.

In this work an electrohydrodynamic process (electrospray) was used to produce β-carotene loaded nanocapsules based on whey protein isolate (WPI). WPI solutions were prepared in aqueous solutions with different concentrations of ethanol (5, 10 and 15%) which were used for β-carotene solubilization. Different electrospray conditions were tested and the morphology and molecular organization of the nanocapsules were studied on dried and hydrated state.

Probiotic-loaded microcapsule system for human in situ folate production: Encapsulation and system validation.

This study focused on the use of a new system, an alginate|Ɛ-poly-l-lysine|alginate|chitosan microcapsule (APACM), able to immobilize a folate-producing probiotic, Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris (LLC), which provides a new approach to the utilization of capsules and probiotics for in situ production of vitamins. LLC is able to produce 95.

Development of an immobilization system for in situ micronutrients release.

An immobilization system constituted by coated microcapsules was developed aiming at immobilizing probiotic bacteria capable of producing folate and release it in a sustained manner into the intestine. Despite no probiotic folate-producers have been immobilized so far, the system has been developed with this goal and this work reports its stability and ability to release folate under gastro-intestinal conditions. Microcapsules were made of alginate with three consecutive coatings of poly-l-lysine, sodium alginate and chitosan.

Physiological protection of probiotic microcapsules by coatings.

Nowadays, food and nutrition have a greater impact in people's concerns, with the awareness that nutrition have a direct impact in health and wellbeing. Probiotics have an important role in this topic and consumers are starting to really understand their potential in health, leading to an increasing interest of the companies to their commercial use in foods. However, there are several limitations to the use of probiotics in foods and beverages, being one of them their efficiency (directly associated to their survival rate) upon ingestion.